Exclusive: Inside story of Israeli strike in Beirut that killed Hezbollah leader – and two kids   

By Hiba Morad

Hassan and Amira Fadlallah, two siblings from southern suburbs of Beirut, who were killed in an Israeli bombing recently, which also killed a senior Hezbollah commander, were found under the rubble, their mother told the Press TV website, recounting the biggest tragedy of her life.

“The siblings were found under the rubble of the building, hugging each other,” Mariam Soltani said, struggling to hold back her tears as she still has not come to terms with the tragedy.

The mother of 10-year-old Hassan and 6-year-old Amira said her children were killed in the Israeli airstrike while they were playing at their aunt’s place.

The July 30 airstrike on a residential apartment in the Haret Hreik district of Dahiyeh, which targeted Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr, came amid heightened regional tensions.

“We had taken our children to attend their summer program in the afternoon that day and decided that we would visit their aunt’s house when they were done with their activities,” Soltani told the Press TV website in an exclusive interview, recreating the events of that fateful day.

She said a cousin of her children had graduated from high school and they wanted to visit and congratulate him on his accomplishment.

“We arrived at the building, the children, their father, and their cousins took the elevator and went up to their aunt’s apartment, while my sister-in-law and I had to finish something downstairs,” he said.

“Five minutes later, we entered the lobby of the building and were waiting for the elevator to arrive.”

That’s the moment they heard a very loud sound and sensed the building was shaking.

“We were thrown against the wall in the lobby. All that we could see was dust and rubble everywhere amid darkness. My sister-in-law and I miraculously managed to leave the lobby and go outside,” Soltani told the Press TV website less than two weeks after the incident.

“We looked at the building and it had collapsed until the fourth floor, where my family was.”

The mother of two children said her husband and younger son were transferred to the hospital right away, while Hassan and Amira’s fate was still unknown.

“In a minute or two, ambulances and fire trucks arrived. I quickly got informed that my husband and son were transferred to Bahman Hospital, which is very close to the attacked building,” she remarked, saying they were severely wounded with third-degree burns and broken bones.

They are still at the hospital, recovering from injuries and severe trauma.

Hours after the attack, which grabbed headlines worldwide, civil defense workers were not able to find Hassan and Amira, the mother said, adding that she was praying for their well-being.

“Later on, I got to know that when the attack took place, everyone ran towards the entrance of the house, except for Hassan who ran quickly to get his sister who was playing inside alone, but did not manage to bring her and come out because that side of the house collapsed and fell over their tiny bodies,” Soltani told the Press TV website. 

“Hassan and Amira were found dead, killed by the powerful strike while hugging each other.”

Soltani said it is “more painful than you can imagine” to lose your children in such a brutal way.

However, she insisted that she, like others in Lebanon and elsewhere, is a follower of Imam Hussein (AS) and the battle of Karbala, “who taught us that we shall never kneel or surrender in the face of injustice and tyranny.”

“The resistance and Hezbollah are an extension and continuation of the school of Imam Hussein, and killing us, our loved ones, and children, destroying our homes, and displacing us will not affect our beliefs or change our position,” she said in a conversation with the Press TV website.

“We will always and forever support the resistance in the face of the Zionist entity and we will always reject and fight injustice wherever it exists,” the brave mother hastened to add.

Soltani, who was lucky to survive the bombing, said the blood of her martyred children “is like water nurturing the tree of resistance and will help it grow stronger and bigger.”

In a message to the Israeli regime and Western countries that support it, the grief-stricken mother said she would repeat what her leader often says: “Kill us, for our people will become more aware.”

“You may be able to kill hundreds, even thousands of us, and you may be able to black out the media to a certain extent, but the world is very different today and many in the West have come to know the true reality of the Israeli enemy and the US,” she remarked.

Hassan and Amira along with two other women were killed and more than 80 others were wounded in the Israeli aggression in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported.

Shukr, also known by his alias Hajj Mohsen, was the main target of the strike.  A Hezbollah statement called him “the great jihadist commander” who was targeted by the Zionist enemy.

Footage of the area in the aftermath of the strike showed piles of debris lying on the street, which delayed the search situation for hours until the bodies of two siblings were recovered.

It was the latest Zionist aggression against Lebanon as it has carried out several attacks in the past, assassinating senior Hezbollah resistance commanders and leaders in overt and covert assaults.

According to the principle of proportionality in international law, Article 51 of the UN Charter, even if there is a clear military target, it is not allowed to attack it if the expected harm to civilians, or civilian property, is excessive about the expected military advantage.

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